For the third consecutive year, Denison men's swimming & diving is the NCAA Division III runner-up. The Big Red completed the four day championship with 383 points. They were 85 points off the winning pace set by Kenyon College. Third place went to Williams College with 292 points.
Sophomore Max Levy was named the Division III Diver of the Year after winning national championships on both boards. Just like Friday, it was all Big Red at the top of the standings as Levy took home the title with an 11-dive score of 580.85 and Connor Dignan placed second with a score of 570.60.
It would come down to the wire as Levy posted his two best dives on his final pair of attempts. His fifth attempt was a back 1 ½ somersault 2 ½ twist free with a 2.8 degree of difficulty that he nailed for a score of 70.00. He posted a 68.15 on his reverse 1 ½ somersault 2 ½ twist free to close out his set.
Dignan attempted four consecutive dives with a 3.0 degree of difficulty. His fifth dive was a brilliant inward 2 ½ somersault pike that landed him a score of 78.00. Dignan leaves Denison with one national championship, six All-American performances and two current national records.
In addition to Levy's Male Diver of the Year award, Denison's Russ Bertram was named the NCAA Men's Diving Coach of the Year for the second-straight year.
The top individual swimming performance of the night came from one of Denison's most outstanding male performers at this year's meet, sophomore Jack Lindell. The Edina, Minn. Native placed third in the 200 backstroke in 1:45.66. He dropped 1.07 seconds off his time from the morning while logging his fourth top-7 finish of the championship. His time also broke Quinn Bartlett's school record of 1:45.78 set in 2011.
The night's proceedings were kicked off by the 1,650 freestyle and Ben Burdick dropped 13.40 seconds off his entry time to finish seventh with a time of 15:40.74. It marked the second All-American swim of the meet for Burdick. The winner was Kenyon's Arthur Conover. He broke Denison alum Al Weik's national record with a time of 15:01.24.
In the consolation final of the 100 freestyle, Conrad Wuorinen and Ryan Fleming would tie for second in the heat and 10th overall with a time of 44.77 seconds. It is the ninth career All-American swim for Wuorinen and the 10th for Fleming.
The 200 breaststroke would see Gus Evans place 11th in 2:01.74. Joe Brunk followed in 13th after touching in 2:02.69. Emory's Andrew Wilson won for the second straight night in record fashion. His time of 1:52.97 was the 13th fastest SCY time in swimming history. Not just Division III history. Swimming history.
The curtain closed on the championship with a fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as Fleming, Wuorinen, Damon Rosenburg and Max Howes covered the 4x100 yard race in 2:58.48. That race closed the book on Rosenburg's career at Denison. He leaves with 15 All-American performances.
This is the Denison's 10th consecutive top-3 finish at the Division III championships and the program's 10th second-place finish at nationals. This year, Denison won two event national championships, logged 16 top-8 finishes and 29 All-American performances.
